Boxing Legend Muhammad Ali Has Died at 74

Heavyweight boxing legend Muhammad Ali, an icon of the 20th Century whose fame transcended the sport during a remarkable career that spanned three decades, died Friday, his family said.

The beloved 74-year-old sports hero, who had been battling Parkinson's disease for decades, passed away in a hospital in Phoenix, Arizona, where he had been admitted earlier this week suffering from respiratory problems.

"After a 32-year battle with Parkinson's disease, Muhammad Ali has passed away at the age of 74," spokesman Bob Gunnell said.

In December, he issued a statement rebuking US presidential hopeful Donald Trump's call for a ban on Muslims entering the United States.

"Muhammad Ali transformed this country and impacted the world with his spirit," said longtime boxing promoter Bob Arum. "His legacy will be part of our history for all time."

The Greatest

His 30-year career, which stretched from 1960 to 1981 and saw him retire with a record of 56-5, included such historic bouts as the Rumble in the Jungle -- against George Foreman in 1974 in Kinshasa, Zaire.

Other defining moments of his career included two knockouts of Sonny Liston and his thrilling rivalry with Joe Frazier -- which saw the two men slug it out in the ring and verbally spar out of it.

"Ali, Frazier & Foreman, we were 1 guy. A part of me slipped away -- the greatest piece" Foreman wrote on Twitter shortly after Ali's death was announced.